Welcome to the Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place (MMaP) at Memorial University. MMaP conducts a wide range of research projects on music and culture. These include the production of CDs, websites, videos, and live events on the music of Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Canada, and beyond. We also publish the journal Music Research Annual and engage in book projects, conferences, a residency series, and other initiatives that examine fundamental theoretical questions in music research. Located in the John C. Perlin Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s, MMaP’s facility is the home to Memorial’s MA and PhD programs in ethnomusicology, a recording and audio restoration studio, a presenting space, and more. We invite you to explore this web site and follow us on social media to find out more about the Centre’s work.

Announcements

Website Update! Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the Collections of MacEdward Leach now features playlists and full Gaelic transcriptions and translations!

MMaP is pleased to announce several updates to the Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the Collections of MacEdward Leach website! The Leach collection features almost 700 songs recorded by MacEdward Leach between 1949 and 1951 on the island of Newfoundland and in Gaelic-speaking areas of Nova Scotia. Our new playlists are the perfect way to start exploring this vast repertoire! Curated by musicians, community members, and scholars, our playlists provide guided introductions to the collection, ranging from local singers’ favourite songs to music used to accompany communal activities like the milling frolic. Our recent also includes full transcriptions and English translation for the nearly 90 Gaelic songs found in the Nova Scotia Collection!  Visit the website now at https://mmap.mun.ca/folk-songs-of-atlantic-canada/home to explore these new functionalities!

Good as a Concert: “Songs for All Souls”

On October 26, 2024, at 7:30PM, the Good as a Concert performance series returns once again with an event at Suncor Energy Hall in the Memorial University School of Music. The evening will feature songs by Pamela Morgan, Maria Peddle, and Graham Wells, as well as stories by Catherine Wright. The theme of the event is Songs for All Souls. The price of admission is $25 for non-students and $20 for students, and tickets are available for purchase at the event. Good as a Concert is a production of SingSong Inc, MMaP, and Eleanor Dawson.

Seeing the Moon Through my Window: Lullaby Project-NL

The MMaP Music and Culture Lecture Series returns this Fall, Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 pm in the MMaP Gallery.

The Lullaby Project is a world-wide initiative that explores collaborative lullaby creation for the purpose of creative expression, the development of musical skills, and community interaction. Join Drs. David and Jan Buley as they discuss their experiences writing lullabies in, with, and for the Newfoundland community.

"Appalachia to Cape Breton"

On June 20, 2024, at 7:30PM in the MMaP Gallery, the Centre is pleased to present a guest lecture by Fulbright scholar Toni Doman-Vandyke, who will share her current research on the traditional music cultures of Appalachia and Cape Breton. This talk features an overview of the history of Appalachian music, allowing participants to gain an understanding of the region’s traditions, and will include live music performances. Doman-Vandyke will also discuss her ongoing Fulbright project, which is titled “Contemporary Technologies and the Traditional Music of Cape Breton.” With our growing reliance on online technologies, both listeners and players of traditional music have increased access to musical influences outside of their geographic region. Examining the rapid advances in the ways we use new technologies, the project documents the current traditional music scene in Cape Breton and seeks to uncover how access to outside musical influences is shaping the region’s traditional music.

CRC Program Award

The Canada Research Chair’s Program (CRCP) has awarded Harris M. Berger a second seven-year term as Tier One Canada Research Chair in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. (The CRCP is a funding body administered by the government of Canada’s Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat.) Berger holds appointments in both the School of Music and the Department of Folklore and directs Memorial’s Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place, which was founded in 2003 by Memorial’s first CRC in Ethnomusicology, Beverley Diamond. “I am honored to receive this appointment,” Berger said, “and look forward to continuing to lead the work of the Centre.”

"Good as a Concert" Returns

Good as a Concert, MMaP’s traditional music performance series, returns with a day-long event to celebrate the arrival of spring. Join us on Saturday, March 23, 2024, as we push winter out the door and usher in a new season! The event will begin with a storytelling session at 10:30AM featuring Mary Fearon, Harry Ingram, Jim Payne, and Catherine Wright. The afternoon folksong session starts at 2:30PM and features singers Eleanor Dawson, Paul Dean, Mark Manning, and Monica Walsh. Both sessions will take place in the MMaP Gallery, which is on the second floor of the John C. Perlin Arts and Culture Centre. An evening concert featuring Anita Best, Joe Byrne, and Aaron Collis starts at 7:30PM in Suncor Hall at the Memorial University School of Music. Tickets are $10 for each of the daytime sessions and $25 for the evening concert. You may also purchase a day pass for $40. Good as a Concert is a collaboration between MMaP and singers Eleanor Dawson and Jim Payne.

Neighbours St. John’s Phone App Update

MMaP is pleased to announce that an updated version of the Neighbours St. John’s phone app is now available. A free application for iOS and Android phones, Neighbours: St. John’s presents stories from the diverse cultural communities of the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The app offers users a map of downtown St. John’s with markers indicating culturally significant sites in the city. Using GPS technology, the app allows users to create their own walking tour of St. John’s and learn about its history and cultures.

Due to technical issues, the app had been removed from the iOS and Google Play app stores, but it is now available once again. The new version offers a cleaner interface and revised information. The iOS version can be downloaded here, and the Android version can be downloaded here. If you had the first version of the app, the new version may already be on your phone. To make sure that your app has the latest data, tap on the three dots at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, tap on “Settings,” and tap on “Check for updated content.”

Good as a Concert: Traditional Newfoundland Songs from the Collections of MacEdward Leach

To celebrate the launch of Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the Collections of MacEdward Leach, a website featuring over 650 recordings of traditional music from Newfoundland and the Gaelic-speaking areas of Nova Scotia, MMaP partnered with SingSong Inc. and Eleanor Dawson to present another event in the "Good as a Concert" performance series. Featuring a variety of well-known singers, the event showcased songs from Leach's collections and highlighted the province's rich musical heritage. The concert took place on Saturday, February 25, 2023, in The Well Room, which is located at 272 Water Street in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Partial funding for this event was provided by the Office of Public Engagement at Memorial University. The producers gratefully thank them for their support.

Videos of this event are available on the MMaP YouTube channel.  The video for the first half of the event can be found here, and the video for the second half can be found here.

New Website Launches! Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the Collections of MacEdward Leach

Between 1949 and 1951, American folklorist MacEdward Leach recorded almost 700 songs from singers on the island of Newfoundland and in Gaelic-speaking areas of Nova Scotia. Folk Songs of Atlantic Canada from the Collections of MacEdward Leach is an online archive that make his recordings available. It is a major revision of the MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada website, which was published by MMaP in 2004. The new site offers complete recordings of songs from the Leach collection (rather than excerpts), carefully restored audio, new search capabilities, contemporary web design and functionality, and updated texts. We invite you to explore the collection!

MMaP Receives Major Award from the Society for Ethnomusicology

At the 2020 meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), MMaP received the Judith McCulloh Public Sector Award, which is given in alternating years to an individual or organization whose “work contributes significantly to public understandings of ethnomusicology.” With this award, SEM has acknowledged the work of all of those scholars and staff who have contributed to MMaP’s success since its inception, as well as numerous guest producers and student researchers. The award was presented by Dr. Nancy Groce, Senior Folklife Specialist from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. In her remarks, Dr. Groce observed that McCulloh Award was particularly competitive this year, with the committee considering 23 nominations from seven countries.

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